Registered

My dog is a almost 5 y/o intact male. His weight seems to fluctuate more than any other dog I've had. I think it's mostly due to the fact that he trains and competes in a couple of weather and season specific sports. I think tracking and dock diving have the biggest impact. But also we have a big property and recently our steepest and longest trail froze over and became passable so we have been hiking the big loop and I usually notice the boys look more muscular when that trail is passable.

I don't weigh him at home much because even though I have a dog scale he is too big for it and it's hard to get his whole body on there for a real weight. At the vet he weighs anywhere between 85 and 90lb, and at 90 he can look a little thick and I've thought he needs to lose a few but another time I was thinking he looks like a rack of ribs and I need to put some weight on him and he weighed 90. I said to my vet I can't believe he weighs that much, I thought he was thin right now. Vet said yeah but look at the muscles on him. He does kinda turn into arnold when he is training hard.

I do drop his feed back a little when he isn't so active. And he has way less appetite when he is less active so he is usually the one telling me to drop his food back by leaving some so I feed him less so we aren't wasting. But regardless he continues to fluctuate.

All this to say....is it bad for a dog to fluctuate in weight and body condition? I hope not because I'm not even super sure how I could change it. i try to keep him fit and active, he wants to be fit and active, but sometimes weather, trail conditions, my schedule or life, just sucks,and he gets a little soft for a month before things change again.

Super Moderator

Russell was always that way too. His weight fluctuates easily with exercise. In fact, my son just called me and was concerned about Russ’s weight. He thinks he might be gaining weight, but then talked himself in circles about how they haven’t been walking him as much since they moved. Before that conversation, he was concerned he was too thin, lol.

Super Moderator

Unless you have a treadmill or some way to keep them exercised at the same level year round,it's inevitable that they're going to get softer.I'm not able to get out and slog through the snow and mud like I did in my younger years to get the dogs out for a good long run every day.We do manage to get in a couple of short play/train sessions outside daily at the very least.The best we can do (myself included) is try to maintain strength and flexibility.
The last couple of weeks the snow was frozen and crunchy - perfect for long hikes.Right now it's soft and almost knee high- so it's Jolly Ball in the yard for now

Super Moderator

I told my son if he was concerned that Russ might be getting chunky, to have him go up and down their stairs several times a day. They live in a loft apartment, so the weather wouldn’t be an issue. I run Scarlet up and down the stairs at the park. There’s a gazebo with stairs that go down to a pond. Up and down, up and down. She loves it.

Super Moderator

I just picked up Carly’s ashes from the vet, and since I had Scarlet with me, I asked if they would weigh her. Seventy pounds!! I kept saying to the vet tech “how in the world does she weigh 70 lbs??! She’s thin!” She laughed at me and said she has muscles. I would’ve sworn that dog weighed 65 at the most. Appearances are deceiving!

Super Moderator

I just picked up Carly’s ashes from the vet, and since I had Scarlet with me, I asked if they would weigh her. Seventy pounds!! I kept saying to the vet tech “how in the world does she weigh 70 lbs??! She’s thin!” She laughed at me and said she has muscles. I would’ve sworn that dog weighed 65 at the most. Appearances are deceiving!